US company turns Porsche 911s into hybrids

By Chris Thompson, 01 Oct 2018News

A California-based company called Vonnen showcased some rather interesting technology at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion this weekend, a hybrid system for the Porsche 911 which replaces the flywheel with an electric motor.

First brought to public attention by car culture website Jalopnik, the system sits in place of the original flywheel, with a battery in the front storage compartment of the car with a control unit, as well as an energy inverter mounted at the rear ‘parcel shelf’.

Essentially, the ‘flywheel’ motor allows an extra boost of power through the drivetrain without interrupting the power provided by the engine.

“This is the best of your Porsche, made better,” Vonnen says of its upgrade.

“You keep the sound, the experience, the feel, smells and sensations of your high performance gasoline engine and you get a tremendous power increase with amazing throttle response and torque from idle.”

Vonnen says the motor adds an additional 130kW to the performance of a standard 911, or 261kW in ‘stage 2’ form. It’s important to note that this power is a temporary boost, which then takes some time to recharge and cool.